The following Letter Type Q, or variations thereof, was submitted by individuals or entities.

Letter Type Q:

I urge you to approve the proposed rule in File Number 4-637 and require publicly traded corporations to disclose political spending to shareholders.

Publicly traded corporations are already required to disclose a wide variety of data to current and prospective shareholders, including information about earnings, executive compensation, litigation, assets, and more. With companies subject to political pressure and boycott campaigns based on their political activities, shareholders should have the right to know how much money the corporation is spending on specific political activities that may put their investment at risk. This information is vital to allowing investors to make informed decisions and to making our markets function more smoothly.

This requirement also offers a broader benefit to society by allowing shareholders to rest assured that their investment is not being used to promote a political agenda they disagree with. Furthermore, adopting this rule would close a loophole in the nation's regulatory framework opened by the Citizens United v. FEC decision by the Supreme Court that allows political spending without disclosure.